Jacobs Jewelers clock - back in six months?

[Timkin]

^^we might be wating another year for that one! remember maintenance is something COJ cant figure out.

^ Didn't want to be the first to sound skeptical

[Noone]

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2012-07-17

So there is a $51,094 dollar cap and the go ahead was given by the city April,30 and so we should have it within 90 days.  What was the cost in 73 and 95? Just curious. The ones that did it in 73 and 95 still in business's?

The chamber trip is to Cincinnati and what a field trip for both cities to check out the status of the clock if it happens to work out.

[Bativac]

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2012-07-17

I think they're quoting the same email Paul Crawford sent me. I feel like I'm right at the very edge of current events. I should email council members more often!

[Bativac]

Just noticing it's been about 8 months since I emailed the City Council and I have yet to see the clock returned to its former location... but maybe I somehow missed it the other day. I better ask you guys before I make a fool of myself emailing the city council again. Is the clock back and I just need to have my eyes checked? Or is it still MIA?

[Spence]

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2012-07-17

I think they're quoting the same email Paul Crawford sent me. I feel like I'm right at the very edge of current events. I should email council members more often!

^
Just to help any and all reading this:

District 1: Clay Yarborough
Phone: (904) 630-1389
Email: Clay@coj.net
Assistant: BeLinda Peeples

District 2: William Bishop   (council president)
Phone: (904) 630-1392
Email: WBishop@coj.net
Assistant: Suzanne Warren

District 3: Richard Clark
Phone: (904) 630-1386
Email: RClark@coj.net
Assistant: Sonia Johnson

District 4: Don Redman
Phone: (904) 630-1394
Email: Redman@coj.net
Assistant: Scott A. Wilson

District 5: Lori N. Boyer
Phone: (904) 630-1382
Email: LBoyer@coj.net
Assistant: James Nealis

District 6: Matt Schellenberg
Phone: (904) 630-1388
Email: MattS@coj.net 
Assistant: Audrey Braman

District 7: Dr. Johnny Gaffney
Phone: (904) 630-1384
Email: Gaffney@coj.net
Assistant: Tiffani Dailey

District 8: E. Denise Lee
Phone: (904) 630-1385
Email: EDLee@coj.net
Assistant: Dan Macdonald

District 9: Warren A. Jones
Phone: (904) 630-1395
Email: WAJones@coj.net
Assistant: Rupel Wells

District 10: Reginald L. Brown
Phone: (904) 630-1684
Email: RBrown@coj.net
Assistant: Mercedes Parker

District 11: Ray Holt
Phone: (904) 630-1383
Email: Holt@coj.net
Assistant: Connie Holt

District 12: Doyle Carter
Phone: (904) 630-1380
Email: doylec@coj.net
Assistant: Rebekah Hagan

District 13: Bill Gulliford
Phone: (904) 630-1397
Email: Gulliford@coj.net 
Assistant: Stan Johnson

District 14: Jim Love
Phone: (904) 630-1390
Email: JimLove@coj.net
Assistant: Kevin Kuzel


At-Large Council Members

Group 1: Kimberly Daniels
Phone: (904) 630-1393
Email: KimDaniels@coj.net
Assistant: Ricky Anderson

Group 2: John R. Crescimbeni
Phone: (904) 630-1381
Email: JRC@coj.net
Assistant:  None

Group 3: Stephen C. Joost
Phone: (904) 630-1396
Email: Joost@coj.net
Assistant: Celeste Hicks

Group 4: Greg Anderson
Phone: (904) 630-1398
Email: GAnderson@coj.net
Assistant: Leeann Summerford

Group 5: Robin Lumb
Phone: (904) 630-1387
Email: RLumb@coj.net
Assistant: Donna Barrow


Also
MayorBrown@coj.net


To view the current district map, and detailed insets, visit this section of www.COJ.NET _
http://www.coj.net/city-council/council-district-maps.aspx

[simms3]

This is simply unacceptable.  Going back to another discussion...the PEOPLE are really to blame!  This clock is one of the *only* landmarks of the city, and it's been YEARS.  I guess there aren't protests and parades of angry taxpayers beating down the hatches of City Hall.

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.  Here in SF there would be a vigil and a rally of 100,000 people if it were 1 friggin day late!  Sadly, I just don't even think anyone in Jacksonville knows that it even EXISTS!

It's a people problem for sure.

[tufsu1]

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.

WHATEVER

[Tacachale]

^hahaha

[Bativac]

This is simply unacceptable.  Going back to another discussion...the PEOPLE are really to blame!  This clock is one of the *only* landmarks of the city, and it's been YEARS.  I guess there aren't protests and parades of angry taxpayers beating down the hatches of City Hall.

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.  Here in SF there would be a vigil and a rally of 100,000 people if it were 1 friggin day late!  Sadly, I just don't even think anyone in Jacksonville knows that it even EXISTS!

It's a people problem for sure.

It absolutely is a people problem. The email I got back 8 months ago was half full of politicking before getting around to the actual answer.

I've emailed the council again and will report back here once I get a reply (unless it ends up in the Business Journal again).

[tufsu1]

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.

WHATEVER

simms is quite correct

are you suggesting that Jacksonville doesn't have people that care or are passionate about issues?

[Bativac]

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.

WHATEVER

simms is quite correct

are you suggesting that Jacksonville doesn't have people that care or are passionate about issues?

I think what he's saying is Jacksonville doesn't engender the kind of intense feelings of civic pride that other cities do that would cause people to get worked up over an issue like this. To my knowledge, nobody else has inquired about this clock, and the thing was a landmark downtown for decades. An historic object. The only logical conclusion is that nobody cares, or somebody would have asked about it. Of course there are people in Jax who are passionate about things. But outside of a small handful, nobody seems to mind at all if Jacksonville's history is torn out completely. As long as property taxes are low and there's a yogurt joint or something at the local strip mall.

It's a small thing, in the grand scheme of things, but for some reason that clock sticks out to me as an issue that shouldn't die. The clock was there - nothing was wrong with it - but the city hauled it off to supposedly have it restored, but given the city's absolutely terrible track record with restoring or maintaining anything AT ALL, the fact that the clock has not returned after this long does not bode well.

How much money was spent? How much was supposed to have been spent? How much was necessary to spend? Was it necessary to send this clock away for restoration when it had sat for so long?

I think the clock is gone, I think someone sold it, and I think the money set aside for its restoration has been pocketed by someone or spent on other items. I'll be surprised if that clock ever comes back. But nobody else will care, and the thing will slip into the collective memory of the handful of us who remember stuff like that.

Like I said. It's a small thing. Hopefully I'm wrong and I'm getting all worked up over nothing. I'm too young to be this jaded I think.

[distantkarma]

The clock is crated up, in a warehouse in the Talleyrand area.  It hasn't been sold.

[mbwright]

I wonder where the contract for the repair/reinstall is. 

[fsquid]

This is simply unacceptable.  Going back to another discussion...the PEOPLE are really to blame!  This clock is one of the *only* landmarks of the city, and it's been YEARS.  I guess there aren't protests and parades of angry taxpayers beating down the hatches of City Hall.

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.  Here in SF there would be a vigil and a rally of 100,000 people if it were 1 friggin day late!  Sadly, I just don't even think anyone in Jacksonville knows that it even EXISTS!

It's a people problem for sure.

sounds like people need a hobby.

[simms3]

From January 8, 2013:

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2013-01-08

Last April, the City awarded a $51,000 contract for the restoration of the clock to the I.T. Verdin Co, in Cincinnati. The work was completed and the restored clock was shipped back to Jacksonville in September. It has been stored in a City warehouse since.

"We are anxious to get the clock back. It only took six weeks in 1973 when it was in 200 pieces after the bus ran over it," said Thomas.

Scott Wilson, executive assistant to City Council member Don Redman, whose district includes Downtown, said the clock is ready to be re-installed as soon as the City awards a bid for a concrete base for the clock.

Public Works Department Chief of Engineering and Construction Management Bill Joyce estimated it will be another 6-8 weeks before the final step of restoring the clock along Laura Street.

"We have received bids and are currently reviewing. Once we determine a low responsive bidder we will be formulating a recommendation to the awards committee. We should have a recommendation within the next couple of weeks," he said.

From April 25, 2011

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2011-04-25

Thomas said he has a $4,000 estimate for the cost of replacing the movement with a new electronic version and he has requested an estimate for powder-coating the exterior, which would be more durable than paint.

Thomas also said he doesn’t know why the City claims to not have the money to rehabilitate the clock. He said in addition to transferring ownership of the historic landmark in 1995, his store and a local law firm partnered to present to the City a $6,500 trust fund designated to be used for future maintenance and repairs.

The principal, plus 16 years of accrued interest, should be more than enough to complete the work needed to return the clock to its place along the new and improved Laura Street in a timely fashion, he said.

Thomas said if there’s a government procedure needed to locate and release the funds, “I’ll pay for the work if they’ll reimburse me.”

A whole other discussion on the missing clock from a while back (a quick Google search reveals a few articles from The Daily Record and discussion from MetroJacksonville, but not much else.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=15585.0


Just trying to put into perspective the "little" issue of one of the city's main landmarks and oldest "structures" remaining in the city now missing.